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Lowell business owner indicted in fraud case

BOSTON -- A Lowell business owner was indicted Thursday on charges he dodged higher insurance premiums by understating his payroll and the number of jobs performed.

Kruy Kroch, 50, of Lowell, was indicted on state charges of workers' compensation fraud (five counts) and larceny over $250 (five counts). He is scheduled to be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.

Kroch owns MK Environmental, Inc., an asbestos-abatement company located at 171 Lincoln St., #2, in Lowell. The phone number listed for the company is no longer in service. Kroch is listed as past president of MK Environmental Inc., which is listed as "inactive," according to the website corporationwiki.

According to state Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, MK Environmental was insured by Travelers Indemnity Company for workers-compensation insurance and employers liability insurance from April 2007 through December 2012. Kroch misrepresented to his insurance company the true number of employees and payroll, and understated the number of jobs performed by his business, the state alleged. Kroch underpaid thousands of dollars in premium payments, the state said.

The state said Kroch was granted the minimum premium rate on his policy putting Travelers unknowingly at risk to cover any undisclosed employees for injuries.

MK Environmental employed up to 30 workers with at least four full time from 2007 to 2012 and misclassified the work of his company during the same period, officials said.

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